Cabe, thanks for the reminder of different technology "vocabularies." I've seen both k and M used in more general contexts to mean thousand, but only MM to mean million. But perhaps general usage is also changing: I just saw M to indicate million in a newspaper article.

1. from wiki - A town is only said to have achieved grid connection when it is connected to several redundant sources, generally involving long-distance transmission.

2. from wiki - This redundancy is limited. Existing national or regional grids simply provide the interconnection of facilities to utilize whatever redundancy is available. The exact stage of development at which the supply structure becomes a grid is arbitrary. Similarly, the term national grid is something of an anachronism in many parts of the world, as transmission cables now frequently cross national boundaries. The terms distribution grid for local connections and transmission grid for long-distance transmissions are therefore preferred, but national grid is often still used for the overall structure.

3. The gov is continually looking into grid storage, regulation, and fortification for quite some time now.

4. A lot of the regulation tech is being tested here and there. No overhaul of the electrical grid has been implemented. We still burn a lot of coal. We still lose a lot of energy in heat. I hope to see more work done in this area soon.

Yep, lived here all my life. A federal court ruled yesterday that we're supposed to get rebates from that mess--finally! After more than 10 years. http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-court-says-rebates-due-california-20130404,0,5301337.story

The fact that a single grid issue caused one of the largest outages on the east coast, and let the company Enron take advantage of the west coast is why we need better protection for the grid. Redundancies and communication protection is essential.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.